Fodor's Expert Review La Vieille Charité

At the top of the Panier district lies this superb ensemble of 17th- and 18th-century architecture, which was originally designed as a hospice for the homeless by Marseillais artist-architects Pierre and Jean Puget and which now houses two museums. While visiting the complex, be sure to walk around the inner court to study the retreating perspective of triple arcades and to admire the Baroque chapel with its novel, egg-peaked dome.

The larger of the two museums is the Musée d'Archéologie Méditerranéenne (Museum of Mediterranean Archaeology), with a sizable collection of pottery and statuary from classical Mediterranean civilization; unfortunately, descriptions of these items are rudimentary (e.g., "pot"). There's also an exhibit on the mysterious Celt-like Ligurians who first peopled the coast; alas, displays focus more on the digs than the finds. However, the Egyptian collection—the second-largest in France after the Louvre's—is evocative, with mummies, hieroglyphs, and sarcophagi exhibited in a tomblike setting.

Displays in the upstairs Musée d'Arts Africains, Océaniens, et Amérindiens (Museum of African, Oceanic, and American Indian Art) are theatrical: spectacular masks and sculptures are mounted along a black wall, lighted indirectly, and labeled across the aisle. The complex also has changing exhibitions that might focus on fine art, photography, filmmaking, or cultural anthropology, among other things.